Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Another Taliban leader bites the dust

At least one missile suspected to have been fired by a US drone hit a house in north-west Pakistan near the Afghan border overnight, a Pakistani security official said.

The missile, which hit a house near the village of Damadola in the Bajaur tribal region, where Islamist militants have been known to operate, killed seven people including three children, a Taliban spokesman said.

"One or two missiles were fired from a drone. We don't have any details," said the security official, who declined to be identified.

In January 2006, a CIA-operated drone Predator aircraft fired missiles at a house in Damadola in the belief Al Qaeda deputy leader Ayman Al-Zawahri was visiting.

He was not there and at least 18 people died in the strike, several of them believed to have been Al Qaeda members.

This year, US-controlled Predator aircraft have struck at least three sites used by Al Qaeda operatives in north-west Pakistan, killing dozens of suspected militants.

A spokesman for Taliban militants in Pakistan, Maulvi Omar, said the house that was hit belonged to an ethnic Pashtun tribesman and four Taliban militants and three children had been killed in the attack.

Six people had been wounded, he said, adding all of the casualties were Pakistanis.

A Pakistani military spokesman said he had no information about any missile strike.